I won’t say too much about this show except that you should have been there. I do have some pictures for you though, and a few thoughts.

The Earaches, sorry i missed you as I really was stuck in some Crosstown Traffic. I randomly run into an old high school friend at the show so we went and grabbed a quick hot beverage from ladro and made it back for the Valley. Who was loud. The drummer was rather agro, throwing his entire drumset off the front of the stage at the end of the set. Maybe he was anticpating the end of the set and letting the other band get on quickly, but…methinks not.

The Hands were up next and I was rather suprised by their calm stage demeanor. They duly kicked out the jams, and in fact played every song they had in their repotoire, but it seemed like the small stage may have been cramping their style. I can’t wait to see them rock the Croc this Wednesday.

Thee Emergency returned at three in the morning that day from a week long west coast tour down to Southern California. After a week, they were indeed tight. I am really liking the added saxaphone/digital organist (not pictured, hiding behind the PA/silver balloon). They’ll be playing with the Hands again on February 17.

Headlining this event, and deservedly so was local hip hop stars Common Market. The night previous they had performed with the Blue Scholars in support of Lt. Ehren Watada, who has refused to deploy to Iraq. They said they were riding high off the vibe of that event and it showed. A Common Market show is more than just a collection of songs, it’s a cohesive narrative experience that entertains and informs. They capped of the show with their socially concious anthem “Connect For” that had whole crowd moving and quite a few running to get their record off the shelf.

Did I tell you it was free?